Thursday, 4 July 2013

Dance is for anyone and everyone. Different dance styles have been fashioned by people all over the globe like HIP HOP by Americans, ODORI and MAI by Japanese, DEVIL DANCE (Yakun Natima) by Sri Lankans and so on. One such dance from Africa is the "GUMBOOT DANCE". This incredibly peculiar dance was initially started by the miners of South Africa. Having faced a lot of hardship and tribulations from their bosses, including punishment for talking, the miners were forced to build up their own means of communication and thus came the Gumboot dancing. This dance form doesn't need any music to be played because the dancers create music by clapping their hands and stamping their feet. The dancer wears a special kind of boots known as Wellington Boots which may contain bells so that they ring to create music. This sound was used as a language in the mining grounds. It was primarily employed to call someone far away. But today it has become one of the most celebrated dance forms like Salsa and Jazz.